Chapter Nine 
“How many times was that?” Buffy was lying flat on her back, eyes shut, completely oblivious to her nudity. When Spike didn’t answer right away, she nudged him with her foot, bringing a lazy response.
 
“Lost count after the third or fourth time. Kept havin’ to pinch myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. I thought you were countin’?”
 
She stretched and shrugged before snuggling into his side and letting her hair spread across his chest. “It was lots of times. I know that.”
 
He wrapped his arms loosely around her and nuzzled the top of her head.  Taking advantage of not being able to see her face, he said, “You know this is going down as the best night of my life, right?”
 
“Mmmmm,” she murmured in agreement as she squirmed closer. “I could stay here forever—” The way Spike inhaled through his teeth and tightened his arms made her realize what she’d said, and she quickly tried to recover before he could pursue that line of thought.
 
“If I wasn’t the Slayer, I mean. But I am. The Slayer. And We-I-need to go slay things. Evil things.  I should get up. Now. Immediately... You should probably stop that....” Her voice trailed of to a whisper as he pulled her over on top of him and began to suck on her neck. “Ooooo, that’s.... bad. Very bad.... and so good.... I’m sure it’s evil....”
 
“Can’t be evil if it feels good, can it?  Want you to feel good, Buffy. Tell me what you want from me.” Even though his words were muffled by the skin he wouldn’t release, she could understand them only too well.
 
As she gave in to the wonderful sensations his mouth was creating — I’m going to have a hickey to end all hickeys— she knew he didn’t mean only what he was doing to her physically. Her thoughtless words had left open the door to a conversation she didn’t think she was ready to have yet. Fortunately, the way her body was reacting to the blood being pulled to the surface left her with a good excuse not to answer. She began to writhe on top him as the rest of her demanded more of his attention, and he soon forgot his request when his own body responded.
 
In what was already becoming a habit, their athletic and inventive love-making ended with Spike on top, Buffy’s arms and legs wrapped around him, holding him against her as they quivered their way to another orgasm, this one quieter than all those that had preceded it, but pleasing never the less.
 
While they were still intimately connected, Spike lifted himself on his elbows and gazed at her flushed face. When she tried to look away, he used his nose to nudge her face back where he could hold her gaze.
 
“Got to say it, Buffy. Know you probably don’t want to be reminded of it all the time, but I need you to know how very much I love you.  I think I always have in some way. ‘s why Dru left me, you know.  Said I wasn’t demon enough for her anymore and that you were floating all around me. Thought she meant I was obsessed with killing you, but now I see what she really meant.”
 
“Spike... I can’t... I want...”
 
“Shh, love. Don’t expect you to love me back. What with you bein’ all that’s good, and me.... not. Just tell me I can be in your life. Let me love you, Buffy. Crumbs are all I’m asking for.”
 
She snorted in relief and squeezed him just enough to make sure he felt it. “If this isn’t a pretty big crumb... I hate to think what you consider a whole cake!”
 
He laughed and dropped his head down again, his breath cool against her neck. “Good point, love.  So, you think you might want to do this again?”
 
“Now?” Her wide-eyed surprise had him backtracking quickly.
 
“No. Of course not now. I’m good, but I’m not a bloody machine.”
 
“Oh, okay then. Yes, I think I might want to do it again.”  She winced as he rolled off and out of her. “Ow. When I get over being sore from this time.”  She smiled to let him know she wasn’t complaining.
 
“Could kiss that better for you, if you’d like,” he volunteered, licking his lips.
 
Buffy laughed and sat up.  “Later, maybe. We’ve got to get dressed and go slay things or I’ll get fired.”
 
“Wouldn’t be the worst thing could happen to you,” he snorted. “Nice long vacation might be just the ticket.”
 
“I think my three days with my dad last month is all the vacation I’m likely to get for a while.  Maybe in the summer, when things slow down....” She looked wistful for a moment, then snapped herself out of it and began looking for her clothes. She held up the scrap of cloth that was all that remained of her thong and waved it at him.  “Look what you did to my underwear!”
 
“I’ll buy you some new frillies,” he said, getting to his feet and pulling his own jeans on. “You don’t see me worrying about underwear do you?”
 
“No, I see that isn’t one of your priorities,” she said, making a face at him. “But it is one of mine.”
 
“Duly noted, pet. I’ll give you your own drawer and fill it with cheap knickers I can bite through when I get the urge.”
 
He didn’t look at her as he talked about something as long-term and domestic as having her own clothes drawer, and Buffy didn’t acknowledge it as she started up the ladder. She paused after only a couple of steps. “Are we going out this way? If we unbar the door, then Ri—anybody could come in while you’re out.”
 
“Huh. That’s a good thought.  Come on back down and I’ll show you how to use the tunnels from here.”
 
 
XXXXXXXXXX
 
Spike sat on a tombstone and spread his legs, pulling Buffy in to stand between so he could nibble on her lip.
 
“So, Slayer, are we done yet? Enough vamp dust spread around to count as time well-spent?”
 
“We did dust a lot of vampires, didn’t’ we? I wonder where they’re all coming from?”
 
“Well, with your ex’s organization being pretty much shut down, I doubt there’s anyone besides you out here all the time.  And you can’t catch ‘em all.”
 
“I guess we’ve done enough for one night,” she agreed, lifting her hands to play with the silky curls on the back of his neck.  “Maybe you can show me where those bite houses are before we go ho—wherever.”  She looked up at him, the full moon allowing her to see his eyes.  “Where are we going?” she asked. “Tonight, I mean,” she added quickly before he could turn it into a relationship discussion. “Where are we going tonight?”
 
“Hadn’t really thought about—alright, that’s a lie and you know it.  But it’s up to you pet. If I had my way, you’d never leave my bed.  Or I’d never leave yours – I’m easy that way...” He smiled when she laughed.  “But it’s up to you, Buffy.  Could come to your room and leave before dawn....”
 
Buffy sighed. “This is going to be harder than I thought. I can’t stay with you every night. I’ve got homework and... stuff. And we can’t... not at my mom’s house. She doesn’t like you that much.”  He snorted his agreement. “I don’t know.  Show me those places I need to see and maybe we’ll think of something.  It’s not like we have to be really sleeping together to... sleep together.”
 
“We don’t,” he agreed, pulling her closer and nuzzling the side of her face. “Not pushing you, love.  Just a fact, I want to spend as much time with you as I can – even if it’s just watching you sleep. You’ll have to tell me to back off if I’m crowding you.” 
 
“Do you mean that? You’ll back off if I say it’s too much? Or I have too much to do to see you sometimes?” She pulled back and gazed at him with genuine curiosity.
 
“Of course I would. You’ve already given me more than I had any right to expect or hope for.”  He cocked his head at her. “Is that what G.I. Joe did? Didn’t give you your space?”
 
“Among other things,” she sighed. “He just... he keeps saying things like ‘the girls where I’m from would want...’  and I... I tried to get him to understand that where he’s from there are no girls like me, but he just didn’t get it.”
 
“ ‘The one girl in all the world’.” Spike nodded. “Can see where that might be confusing for a bloke... and you’re not exactly the average slayer to boot. You’d be a bit much for most men — human men.”
 
Buffy shrugged. “Maybe slayers aren’t meant to have boyfriends.” She gazed up at him, willing him to understand her. “It’s not an easy job, being the Slayer’s boyfriend.”
 
Spike touched her chin so she would focus on him. “Most slayers don’t live to be as old as you are, love. The only men they have time to have in their lives are the wankers that send them out to be killed.  But I promise you, if you let this one in your life, you’ll not only be one of the longest lived slayers, you’ll be the longest lived one. And he’ll do his best to see that it’s a happy life....” He lowered his head and finished in almost a whisper, “Even if it means butting out of it someday so you can get married and have a bunch of bitty Buffys.”
 
“Just so you know – I’m not sure if that’s the most unselfish thing I ever heard, or if it means you already think this isn’t going to work.”
 
“Just bein’ realistic, love.  I can’t give you any of those things that you might want when you’re a bit older. If I thought being with me was making you unhappy....” He leaned his forehead against hers.  “I’d like to think I’ve got it in me to walk away if that’s what you needed.  But I could be telling the biggest bloody lie of my life.”
 
“Well, on that morbid note....” She pulled out of his embrace and began walking. “Show me where these perverts who like to have their blood sucked go to get their jollies.”
 
He caught up to her in few steps and walked quietly at her side for several minutes before clearing his throat and speaking.
 
“I may hate myself for bringing this up, but do you remember how you felt when I was sucking on your neck a while ago?”
 
“Do you really want to remind me of that right now?”
 
“Probably shouldn’t,” he said with a rueful nod. “But I’m just trying to get you to understand that there’s an appeal to what they’re doing. Probably something most people would be afraid of tryin’, and for good reason, but—”
 
“You didn’t have your teeth in my neck!  It was just a giant hickey – which, by the way, remind me to keep covered – it’s not the same thing!”
 
“No, it isn’t,” he agreed. “The real thing is much more powerful – for both parties. Can become addicting for some people.”
 
Buffy started to reply with a denial, then sighed as she remembered how good Spike’s mouth had felt on her neck. “Okay. Fine. So it’s not perverted, just....ooky.”
 
When he started to speak again, she whirled and put her fingers over his lips. “And do not remind me that I liked it.”
 
He kissed her fingers and laughed. “Why’s that, pet? Afraid you’ll start wantin’ the real thing?” In the light from a nearby streetlamp, she could see his expression change to pure lust and his eyes darken, even as he tried to joke about it.
 
“Spike....”
 
He shook himself. “Sorry, love. Got lost in the moment there. One of those things I probably shouldn’t let you see.”
 
She snorted. “Yeah, probably not. Not unless you want to go back to spending your time alone in your crypt playing with yourself.”
 
“Right. Got it. Wiping my mind of any thought of biting you—hey! How do you know I—I mean, I don’t ‘play with’ myself.”
 
“Oh please! How many times did I catch you doing... that... when you were in Giles’ bathtub last year?”
 
“Well, I was bored,” he said, his lip coming out in a pout. “Had to do something to amuse myself, didn’t I?  And anyway, you kept coming in there and teasin’ me with your bare neck and no bra under your shirt and....” His eyes began to glaze over again, and Buffy shoved him so hard he almost fell.
 
“Snap out of it!”
 
“Alright, I’m sorry.” He gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m snapped. And we’re here.”
He pointed to a nondescript-looking building just off the alley in front of them.
 
“Huh. Doesn’t look like much. I was picturing something a lot more....bordello-ish.”
 
“And if we were in Europe or Asia, you might find it. But not here in Sunnydale, USA. These vamps are the dregs of demon society. Too lazy or cowardly to hunt for their food, and willing to.... They don’t make a lot of money from their clients.”
 
“Why didn’t you do something like this when you got chipped? Couldn’t you bite if you aren’t trying to kill?”
 
He shrugged. “Don’t know. Now that I’ve more experience with the chip, I think I probably could, but back then all I knew was if I even thought about hurting a human my head tried to explode.  Anyway, I may be—have been—a lot of things, but a whore isn’t one of them.  All I had to do was get myself to someone willing to help me.”  He nudged her arm. “Found her, didn’t I?”
 
Buffy nudged him back. “So, the whole chip thing was just a way to get into my good graces... and other things....” He snorted, but didn’t argue, just pointed to the door where Riley was standing at the top of the steps and arguing with the bouncer.
 
“I think you need to make a decision here.”
 
After some discussion, the vamp waved Riley in, closing the door behind him.
 
“Shit! He’s really going to do it.  I’m going to kill him!  Er... not really, I guess, unless he gets himself turned and then I—”
 
“Stay here a bit, Slayer. I’ll be right back.”
 
“Where are you—” He raised a finger to his lips and nudged her into the shadows.
 
Buffy watched as Spike strolled up to the building, pausing to light a cigarette that dangled from his lips as he climbed the stairs and knocked.  The bouncer/doorman did a double take, then laughed.
 
“I knew you’d come crawling to us someday, Spike. Thought you were too good for us, didn’t you? Hanging out with the Slayer and drinking pig swill.  What makes you think I’m going to let you in?”
 
Spike’s response was to grab the larger, but much younger, vampire by his shirt and pull him out the door. He held the sputtering vamp up for a second, then threw him over the steps and to land in the alley.  Spike didn’t bother to watch him land, just flicked his lit cigarette in the general direction before entering the building.
 
Buffy watched with interest as the doorman sat up rubbing his head, then noticed the cigarette on his pants leg. He screamed and knocked it off, then looked around to see if anyone had noticed his embarrassing moment. Buffy stepped out of the shadows and leaned against the wall, arms crossed as she stared at him.  His eyes opened wide in terror and he looked around frantically for an escape route.
 
Buffy let him worry for a few minutes, then walked past him and up the steps into the building. She turned to look over her shoulder and say something quippy, but he was already out of sight, only the spinning lid of a knocked over trashcan to mark his passage.  She shrugged and pushed the door open.
 
Buffy’s entrance sent the vamps that had been sitting around the big room waiting for customers into a panic. They screamed and pleaded with her, running in circles until she moved away from the door allowing them to fall all over each other to escape.  Rolling her eyes at their very un-vampire like behavior, she tucked her unused stake back up her sleeve and began searching for Spike and Riley. 
 
She found them on the next floor up.  She stopped just outside the small cubicle where Riley was sitting up, using his hand to apply pressure to the inside of one elbow.  A hissing female vampire was lying on the floor beside him, glaring at Spike. Remembering Spike had told her to wait outside, Buffy stepped back before they could see her. She’d seen enough to know what they been doing before Spike interrupted them.
 
“Get your arse out of here and go find your food like a real vampire,” Spike said, yanking the still-hissing vampire to her feet and propelling her toward the entrance. If he knew Buffy was just around the corner, he didn’t let on, just snarled at the growling whore until she left the room. She gave a little gasp when she saw Buffy standing in the middle of the hall, hands on hips and eyes narrowed in fury.  Her entire demeanor changed as she cowered against the wall, whimpering in fear and making no attempt to attack or flee. With a shudder of disgust, Buffy moved slightly and gestured toward the stairs.  The girl scuttled past her and almost fell down the steps as she hastened to join the other house members outside.
 
Buffy started to step into the room, then waited, curious as to why Spike wasn’t coming out already.  She could hear Riley’s muttered curses and then Spike’s voice.
 
“This has got to be one of the bloody stupidest things I’ve ever seen, Finn.” Buffy startled at hearing Spike use Riley’s name.  “Are you really so brassed off at Buffy that you want to make her have to kill you?  She would, you know. In a heartbeat.”
 
“No she wouldn’t,” he mumbled. “She won’t stake you. And Angel’s still walking around. She wouldn’t stake me.”
 
Spike sighed loudly enough for Buffy to hear him from the hall. “She sent the poof to hell on the point of a sword when she was only seventeen. He got sent back by the bloody Powers That Like to Meddle, but she didn’t know that was going to happen. She thought she was killing the love of her life.” He snorted a laugh when Riley blinked at him in surprise.
 
“What? You didn’t think it was one of us, did you? The girl doesn’t love lightly.  Even so, she did try to put him out our misery when she thought it was necessary to protect the bloody world. Didn’t hesitate.”  He nodded as he stood up. “And she thought she’d killed me more than once. Granted, our... relationship... has changed some since then, but I know with everything I am that if she thought I was killing and feeding, I’d be dust.  She might shed a tear over my dust, but that probably wouldn’t be much consolation to me by then.”
 
He walked toward the door, putting one hand around it to gesture at Buffy to disappear.
 
“Come on, soldier-boy. I’ll walk you out and see that you don’t run into any vamps more likely to kill you than that little chit.  Not that she wasn’t havin’ herself a right proper feed,” he added as Riley swayed on his feet. “She wouldn’t have killed you on purpose, but if she was hungry enough, it wouldn’t have mattered if it was on purpose or not. You’d still be dead.”
 
“I don’t see why that’s your problem, Spike. I think you’d be happy to be rid of me.”
 
“Not denying that. Not doing this for you. I’m doing it for that little girl who’s going to think it’s her fault if somethin’ happens to you. And who’s gonna consider it her duty to dust you if that bint does you in and feels sorry enough about it to turn you.” 
 
He stopped and grabbed Riley’s arm hard enough to make the chip fire. “I’m not going to let you do that to her. You hear me? You hurt her like that and....” He let go and tried to shake off the headache. “I’ll find you before she does – and I can hurt other vamps. Don’t forget that.”
 
Spike could hear Buffy’s footsteps as she hurried down the stairs ahead of them and wondered how much she’d heard. He shrugged and slowed down just enough to be sure she’d made it outside before he and Riley got to the door.  From the top step, they could see Buffy talking to Graham and another one of soldiers from Riley’s unit who had remained in Sunnydale after the Initiative closed down.
 
They reached the bottom and Spike shoved Riley – who was still keeping pressure on his bite – toward his buddies.
 
“Here. He could probably use some liquids. Beer would do nicely.”
 
When Riley staggered and almost fell, Spike was the only one quick enough to grab an arm and hold him up.  Graham stared at the vampire he’d tried to help Riley kill, then nodded and took Riley’s other arm.
 
“Let’s go, big guy. We need to have a talk.”  As they turned to go, he met Spike’s gaze and held it.  “Thanks,” he said finally.
 
Spike shrugged. “Didn’t do for him or you,” he said. “Tried to talk some sense into him, but don’t think he cared for the messenger. Maybe you’ll have better luck.”